Friday, September 19, 2008

U.S. Senate Repeals Embargo

“On October 27, 1939, after more than a month of fierce debate, the U.S. Senate voted for the repeal of the embargo on war materials that formed a part of America’s Neutrality Law. This meant that belligerent countries could purchase war materials from America only if they paid for them in cash and carried them in their own ships. In the photo above, President Franklin D. Roosevelt is seen urging repeal of the embargo in a message to a joint session of the Congress. The effect of repeal was to place American war production at the disposal of the Allies; the blockade precluded Germany from buying in America.”